Method of and apparatus for removing free water adhering to the outer surfaces of whole fresh fruit



May 23, 1939- H. PAxToN Er AL 2,159,046

METHOD OF' AND APPARATUS FOR REMOVING FREE WATER ADHERING TO THE OUTERSURFACES OF WHOLE FRESH FRUIT Filed Jan. 28, 1956 .ZZ/Z631 N /A/l/5/1/7'PS #41.5 ,D4/v70# E @falacia/fray Patented May 23, 1939 lUrsu'rsbSTAT-as METHOD F AND APPARATUS FOB REMOV- INGI FREE WATER ADHEBING T0THE OUTER FRUIT SUBFACES 0F WHOLE FRESH nale Paxton ma Gerald c. Paxton,sans Ana, Calif., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Food MachineryCorporation, a corporation of Delaware Application January 28, 1936.Serial No. 61,182

This invention relates to the art of preparing fresh, whole fruitcommercially for market and has particular utility in removing freewater adhering to the outer surfaces of such fruit after the latterA hasbeen washed and prior to its being packed for shipment.

While capable of handling any of a large number of varieties of fruit,the invention is especially adapted for the handling of citrus fruits,and it l0 will accordingly be described as used inl the drying oforanges.

For several decades the practice in Vcommercially preparing oranges formarket in the United States has been ,to pass these successively throughl" a washer, a' water eliminator, a drier, a polisher,

a surface characteristic sorting table, and a sizer before the lfruit iswrapped by hand and placed in shipping cases. In the last few years,brass roll water eliminators have been largely used, but

20 these are not only expensive to install and maintain but they arevery noisy in operation owing to the screeching of rubber squeegees onthe brass rolls used therein.

It is .an object of our invention to provide a 25 method of and appartusfor removing free water adhering to the outer surfaces of fresh, wholefruit which will avoid thenecessity for a special water eliminator beingemployed between the orange washer and drier, thereby doing away with 30the cost of installing and operating such an eliminator, as well as thenoise attendant upon its operation.

The orange driers at present in general use `include fans for blowinglarge volumes of air 35 at a relatively high rate of delivery againstthe fruit as this passes through-a drying chamber. These fans are noisyin operation and create a very considerable draft in the packing housewhere the machinery is installed, which tends to 4o create anunfavorable working condition for the packers who generally occupy thesame room.

It is another object of our invention to provide a method of andapparatusfor removing free water adhering to the outer surfaces offresh, whole 45 fruit which method and apparatus is free from the noiseand draft attendant upon the' use of s tion will be made' manifest inthe' following description taken in connection with the accom- .panyingdrawing, in which: y

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken through apreferred embodiment of the apparatus of the invention;

Fig. 2 s an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2,and illustrating in detail the mod e of 4removing water from thebrushes.

Specific reference will now be made to the drawings which illustrate apreferred embodiment -I of the fruit drying apparatus of our invention.

The drier il includes a frame Il having legs i2 on the upper ends ofwhich are carried longitudinal pipes i3 and I4. The pipe I3 carriesbrackets I5 which are clamped thereon, as shown in Fig. 2 and whichprovide a series of standards i6 in which are slidably mounted idle stubshafts i1.

Clamped in place upon the longitudinal frame pipe I4 is a series ofhousings 20, enclosing gear mechanisms, which operably connect a driveshaft 2i, which is journaled in suitable bearings provided in the pipe I4, land brush drive shafts 22, which are journaled in the housing 20.Each of the shafts 22 is lin alignment with one of the idle shafts I1.Rotatably supported at its opposite ends by each aligned pair of theshafts I1 and 22 and driven by the latter is one of a series ofcylindrical brushes 25. While' these brushes may have various surfaceconfigurations, it is preferable that their outer surfaces always be f'substantially cylindrical in shape, or at least opposite ends on therails 33 are curtain bars l 40, each of which has a curtain 4i suspendedtherefrom, as shown in Fig. l.l The curtains 4I are preferably disposedin close spaced relation overthe left hand or receiving end of the drieri0.

The end wall 34 of the shell 30 has a drop board from which fruit is fedinto the left hand end of the apparatus, End wall 33 has a dropboard 45from which fruit is delivered from the apparatus at the right hand endthereof. Supported at their ends on the sidewalls 3| of the drier shell30 is a series of bars 4l, each of which ,is positioned so that a hatface 49 thereof the path of 'the extremities of bristles l5 of one `ofthe brushes 25. The edge of the face 49 is straight and makes an abruptbreak at a right angie from the base I9. It is preferable thatsubstantially one-half or more of .the brushes 25 be equipped with bars48, the reason for this being made clear hereinafter. l

' sidewalls 3|, floorv 32, end wall 33 and partition 35 unite to form adrying oven 60 which is provided with asbestos or some other heatinsulating lining 6|. Upper end portions 62 of the insulating material6i extend into'close proximity with the ends of the brushes 25 tosubstantially prevent dissemination of hot air from the oven 80excepting into or between the brushes 25. Extending through thesidewalls 3l and the insulation 6! provided thereon are'ventilationports I5 controlled=by gates 66. The are shown as manually operated butmay be automatically operated by an electric temperature regulatingthermometer located in the oven l6|! if this is desired. Supported bystraps extending ybe'- tween the walls 3|, is an oven'plate 69 which isadapted to be heated by gas burners 1li mounted through` the floor l2from a gas supply .pipe l'|;2. t v

on gas pipes 'Il which extend up yardly In the space between the endwall 34 and 'th partition 35 is mounted a drain pan 80 which V connectswith a drain pipe Il leading to the sewer.

Operation l l 'Ihe apparatus .III is preferably operated in thefollowing manner to carry out the method of our invention. 'I'he driveshaft 2| is rotated so as to rotate all of the brushes 25 in the samedirection and at the same rate, this being preferably between 150 and250 revolutions per minute. At the present time it is customary to runthese brushes at 210 R. P. M. Gas is now supplied through the pipe 12 tothe burners 10 and thisis ignited so as to heat up the platev 69 andthus raise the temprature of the air in the oven 60 to a temperature ofsomewhere between 100 Rand 160 F. 'Ihe gates or shutters 66 are adjustedso as to admit only a relatively small amount of air to the' lowerportion of the oven 60. The result of this is that the heat from theburners is practically all transferred to the brushes 25, heating up thebristles of these brushes to practically the temperature of the air inthe oven.

Fruit is now fedy into the machine over the drop-board 45, as shown inFig. 1. kAs this fruity nils up the valley between the first pair ofbrushes 25, yother fruit fed intoV this valley over dropboard 4l pushesthat already there overvinto the next valley and this process isrepeated until a continuous stream of fruit is flowing through themachine and out at the right hand end thereof.

paratus Il receives fruit from a combined washer and drier, suchas shownin the copending vapplication of Haie Paxton, Ser. No. 391, flied Jan`uary'4, 1935, in'whlch a portion of the free water deposited on thefruit when it is washedr and rinsed is removed fromrthe fruit prior tother Thus discharge of. the fruit from the washer. the fruit F enteringthey drying apparatus I0 carries considerably less than the maximum 1amount of water which can'be made to adhere .to

the surface ofthe fruit.

' iti 'I'he best results are obtained` when the aptween the hrs es Asthe stream pf wet fruit entering the left end of the apparatus i0continues, the fruit first filling the rst valley is 'dislodged by thenext incoming fruit and propelled over into the next valley, thisprocess continuing to cause a practically continuous fiow of fruit clearthrough the apparatus and out at the right hand end thereof.

As the fruit rests, momentarily at least, in each of the valleys, it isrotated by the brushes forming this valley and the rolling and brushingcontact between thesebrushes and this fruit proportionate to the numberof brushes the fruit vhas' already rolled across before reaching thisparticular brush. The time of rolling contact between each brush and thefruit is also a factor inthe absorption of water by the brushes from yv.tl'ielfruit, but with a uniform flowv of fruit through the apparatus,this factor cancels out of the equa- `tion as it is practically uniformfor each brush f in the apparatus.

' Because of this progressive loss of water from the fruit to thebrushes there is less and less water to be removed from each of thebrushes as we go from the left end toward the right end of theapparatus.

It is necessary to continuously remove from each of these brushes atleast as much water as is delivered to that brush from the fruit.Otherwise lthis brush would eventually get saturated and cease to removewater from the fruit resting thereon.

To effect this removal of VVwater from the lbrushes 25 we have equippeda group consisting of over half of these brushes, (which group is1ocated next to the fruit receiving end of the apparatus), with thebarsA8. Surfaces 49 of these bars extend gradually into the rotational pathsof the tips of the bristles of these brushes, as shown in Fig. 3, so asto restrain, retard, and flex these bristles and then atthe height ofsuch `re straint, to release the bristles permitting the latter to flapback to their normal positions on the brushes. 'Ihis sudden motion ofthe bristles greatly increases the centrifugal force to which the waterparticles on these bristles are 'subjected and causes aconsiderableportion of such particles to be thrown downwardly from thebristles.

'Ihe size of the particles of water thus thrown from a brush vary indirect proportion with the amount of water carried in the intersticesbe- Thus theparticles thrown from each brush are smaller than thosethrown from the brushes disposed next thereto and towards the inlet endof the machine.

` In the Anormal operation of the apparatus I0 the particles thrown froma certain initial group of vthe brushes, here shown diagrammatically asten in number, are of suillcient size to make their collection bygravity in a drain pa'n expeditious. As to the particles thrown f frombrushes subsequently travelled over by the fruit,

i these are disseminated into the atmosphere in accordance with themethod of our invention.

That methodl involves the maintenance of a body of air at a relativelyhigh temperature closely adjacent to the under surfaces of the brushes25. This body of air serves several functions. One of these is toevaporate and disseminate into the atmosphere as vapor the iine'mist ofwater particles ipped by the bars ,48 from those brushes which aredisposed to the right of the initial group of ten. Another is to provideheated air which is pressurably forced upwardly into the widenedinterstices temporarily caused between the bristles by the flexing ofthe latter. Another purpose of this air is to keep the bristles 50 at arelatively high temperature. The heat thus stored in the brushes isreleased in increased evaporation of the water received from the fruitand carried on the bristles. Moreover the method by which we apply thisheat to the brushes results in the latter being heated clear in tothecore of the brush. This greatly increases the evaporationvtaking placein the interstices of the brush and on top of that replaces the aircontained in these interstices with relatively fresh heated vair witheach revolution of the brush.

While we have depended upon a thermo-static upward pressure of the hotair in the oven 60 for this purpose, ourvinvention also contemplates amodified mode in which the hot air is pumped from the oven Gilmanddischarged in jets directly up into the spaces between the bristles 50just to the left of the bars 48. Our invention also contemplates. theuse of a plurality of such bars and such jets under each brush whererapid drying with a decreased number of brushes is desirable.

While bars 48 may be provided for al1 of the brushes 25 we found that inthe general practice this is unnecessary and that the last half of thebrushes (those over the oven 60) may liust as well be left free as shownin Fig. 1. It is also desired to point out that while the constructionand mode of operation shown is preferable, certain of the features soshown may be eliminated without crippling the efficiency of theinvention. For instance, the disposition of the brushes 25 so that theperipheries of the adjacent brushes slightly contact, is provided forthe purpose of flipping water from the downward moving bristle ends, asshown in Fig. 3. 'I'his arrangement may be used separate from the bars48 or the latter may be used without providing for the contact of thebrushes with each other.

The curtains 4i serve the purpose of intercepting particles of watersprayed from the upper portions of the peripheries of the brushes 25 atthe entrance end of the apparatus i0, and prevents this water beingtransferred towards the right onto brushes substantially drier than theones from which the water originates. the drier is pretty well filledwith fruit there is only a negligible tendency of water to spray in thismanner. Therefore the curtains 4I are usually not called into playexcepting when the drier Where What we claim is:

-l. 'Ihe method of removing free water adhering to the outer4 surfacesof fresh whole fruit while passing said fruit transversely across aseries of substantially cylindrical parallel brushes which comprises'thesteps of: delivering the fruit to the valleys between adjacent brushes;rotating said brushes in a common direction to subject the fruit to arapid brushing While in rolling contact with said brushes; establishingand maintaining a body of substantially still air beneath and in contactwith the lower faces of said brushes; and heating said air tosubstantially raise the temperatures of the bristles and the air in theinter-bristle spaces of said brushes.

2. The method of removing free water adhering to the outer surfaces offresh whole fruit while passing said fruit transversely across a seriesof substantially cylindrical parallel brushes which comprises the stepsof deliveringthe fruit to the valleys between adjacent brushes; rotatingsaid brushes in a common direction to subject the fruit to a rapidbrushingA while in rolling contact with said brushes; establishing andmaintaining a body of substantially still air beneath and in contactwith the lower faces of said brushes; heating said air to substantiallyraise the temperatures in the inter-bristle spaces of said brushes; andmechanically dispersing into said body of still, hot air fine dropletsof water gathering at the ends of said bristles by flexing said bristlesand then allowing them to spring back by reflex action to their normalpositions.

3. The method of removing free water adhering to the outer surfaces offresh whole fruit while passing said fruit transversely across a seriesof substantially cylindrical parallel brushes which comprises the stepsof: delivering the fruit to the' valleys between adjacent brushes;rotating said brushes in a common direction to subject the fruit to arapid brushing while in rolling contact with said brushes; flexing thebristles of said brushes to temporarily increase the interbristleinterstices of said brushes; and directing quantities of hot air intosaid temporarily increased interstices.

4. In a mechanism for removing'liquid from a cylindrical brush, thecombination of: means for supporting and rotating said brush; and a bardisposed parallel'with said brush, said bar having'a relatively flatsurface which gradually extends into the pathway followed by tips of thebristles of said brush, thereby momentarily retarding the rotationalmovement of said bristle tips, said surface having a sudden break at itsinner extremity so as to release said bristles quickly at the point oftheir maximum restraint.

5. In a mechanism for removing liquid from a cylindrical brush, thecombination of: means for supporting and rotating said brush; and a barrectangular in cross section and disposed parallel with said brush, oneof the flat surfaces of said bar gradually extending into the pathwayfollowed by tips of the bristles of said brush, thereby momentarilyretarding the rotational movement of said bristle tips, the inner edgeof said surface releasing said bristles quickly at the the fruit to thevalleys between adjacent brushes;

rotating said brushes in a common direction to subject the fruit to arapid brushing while in rolling contact with'said brushes; flexing thebristles of certain ofsaid brushes to form a gap in the brush bristlesin advance of the bristles so flexed; directing quantities of hot airinto said gaps in said brush bristles in order to heat said bristles andaccelerate evaporation therefrom; and releasing the flexed bristlessuddenly to cause the reilexing of said bristles to their normalpositions to throw downwardly therefrom drops of water formerly adheringto. said bristles.

8. A process of removing free moisture from .the exterior surfaces offresh whole fruit which.

' comprises vigorously brushing said fruit while `tions currentsresutling subjecting it to the action of heated air currents propelledover the fruit under the influence of and atthe rate produced by theconvecfrom the elevated temperature of said air.V

9. 'I'he method of removing -free water adhering to the outer surfacesof fresh whole fruit while supporting said fruit by means of and passingsaid fruit transversely across a series of substantially cylindricalparallel brushes,V .which comprises delivering the fruit to the valleysbetween adjacent brushes; rotating said brushes in a common direction tosubject the fruit to a brushing action when in rolling contact with saidbrushes; constantly maintaining at substantially atmospheric pressure aconfined body ol' heated air beneath and in contact with the lower facesof said brushes, and conducting heated air from said body into contactwith supported surfaces of substantially the entire body of fruit frombeneath the brushes in a rising flow gently and uniformly through theentire underlying area of the brushes, and discharging said air directlyinto the unconiined atmosphere above asid brushes. A

10. 'I'he method of removing free water adhering to the outer surfacesof fresh whole fruit while supporting said fruit by means of and passingsaid fruit transversely across a series of substantially cylindricalparallel brushes, the space above said brushes being directly open tothe atmosphere and the space below said brushes being substantiallyconfined which method comprises delivering the fruit to the valleysbetween adjacent brushes; rotating said brushes in a common direction tosubject the fruit to a brushing action while in rolling contact withsaid brushes; constantly supplying and maintaining heated air atsubstantially atmospheric pressure in said conlined space, and passingsaid air upwardly into contact with the supported surfaces ofsubstantially the entire body of fruit from beneath said brushes andsubstantially immediately dissemi-v nating said air into the atmosphereabove the brushes without again contacting vtherewith or with 'saidfruit.

HALE PAXTON.` GERALD c. PAx'roN.

